The Menkemaborg (; Menkema Borough) is a ''

borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg ...

'' (castle) in the village of

Uithuizen Uithuizen () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. It had a population of 4,885 in January 2017. The Uithuizen railway station is located on the Sauwerd–Roodeschool railway. Histor ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Since 1927, the ''borg'' is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Mansion

Menkemaborg is an originally 14th-century, brick-built house, which was dramatically altered around 1700 but has since been barely changed. The Alberda family, the 18th-century occupants, commissioned artists to decorate the interior with impressive chimney-pieces carved with baroque ornaments, and paintings of

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

scenes. A four-poster

bed A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

, draped with yellow silk damask from China, has also been preserved. The rooms, which comprise reception rooms, the gentlemen's room, a study, dining room, bedroom, kitchen and cellars, are fully furnished with furniture, silverware, china, brassware and portrait paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Gardens

The

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

s were reconstructed after the surviving garden design dating from around 1705, and are marked by a clear layout with symmetrical patterns of clipped box enclosing beds of 18th-century flowering and ornamental plants. A particularly pretty part is the walled pleasure garden in front of the pavilion, with its trellised arches and arbours. The natural "sundial garden" is special too. To the east of the

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

is the utility area with a

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

garden where vegetables and potherbs are grown and an orchard with ancient strains of apple trees and a pear-tree pergola. At the heart of the maze you will eventually find an old plane tree. In summer, the flowering rose tunnel is not to be missed! The complex of the mansion and gardens, surrounded by their tree-shaded moat, offers a vivid impression of how the Groningen

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

lived in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Groninger Museum

The Menkemaborg was owned privately until 1902. The last heirs donated it in 1921 to the

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building co ...

, which restored it in 1927 and opened it to the public. In 1969 the "Stichting Museum Menkemaborg" was founded that manages the museum and grounds. The largest part of the collection in the Menkemaborg belongs to the Groninger Museum. Most of these came from deconstructed "borgs", because the province of Groningen once had 200 borgs, and only 16 survive.Info
on Groninger museum website File:Menkemaborg3.jpg, Rear view File:Koetshuis - Menkemaborg.jpg, Koetshuis

References

* Helsdingen, H.W. van, ''Gids voor de Nederlandse kastelen en buitenplaatsen'', Amsterdam 1966 * Kalkwiek, K.A., A.I.J.M. Schellart, H.P.H. Jansen & P.W. Geudeke, ''Atlas van de Nederlandse kastelen'', Alphen aan den Rijn 1980 () * Kransber, D. & H. Mils, ''Kastelengids van Nederland, middeleeuwen'', Bussem 1979 () * Tromp, H.M.J., ''Kijk op kastelen'' Amsterdam 1979 ()

External links

{{Commons category, Menkemaborg, Uithuizen Historic house museums in the Netherlands Borgs in Groningen (province) Museums in Groningen (province) Rijksmonuments in Groningen (province) Het Hogeland